The Think Tank

Joel @ Tour de Lab 2009

Joel, Tim and myself joined 1,500 other riders and took part in the 2nd annual Tour de Lab this weekend.

The day didn’t start out on a very good note when, on the way to the event Sunday morning, I inadvertently cut Tim off and caused a collision.  Me and my big ol’ tank of a bike skated through without a scratch, but poor Tim hit the deck and his front wheel was damaged.  Not an auspicious start to the day.  I feel really bad about that, and I told him I was sorry, but that I just couldn’t have him riding his fancy carbon fiber bike and leaving me in the dust, so I had to take his ass out.  🙂

Fortunately he was able to have Aleks bring him his mountain bike so he could still do the ride, although he did miss the first 3 mile leg.  He met up with me and Joel at the first rest stop and we did the remainder of the ride together.

Chris @ Tour de Lab 2009

The route had us ride from one Lucky Lab brewery to the next until you have hit all three.  There were two routes, the “Puppy”, an 18 mile

ride with moderate climbing (when we referred to this one we substituted a couple S’s for some of the P’s) and the Big Dog, a 30 mile ride with what they described as “extreme climbing” up to council crest before descending back into downtown.

Naturally, we signed up for the Pus… I mean the Puppy.

It was a great day and a great ride – the whole crash bit not withstanding – and as it turned out, we probably could have done the Big Dog, though none of were sorry with our decision.  It just meant we got to the finish line sooner and therefore could start drinking our reward quicker.

Tim @ Tour de Lab 2009

At each of the rest stops along the way we were greated with people biscuits, PB&J sandwiches, dog tail breadsticks, Gatorade,  and of course any of the treats available from the various pubs.  We were good and avoided the beer while we were riding, although after climbing up Terwilliger and Barber to Capitol Highway I was really thinking of snagging a brew.

At each stop we gathered up some fancy headwear which we were required to show upon the completion of the ride in order to get our official Tour de Lab pint glass.  It was a great ride and great day.  I will definitely be doing it again next year.